Improvement in barges for coal



3Sheets--Sheet L J. N. SNUWDON; Barges for Goal, 810.

Patented July 7,1874.

fn/vemboit ai 721 2322660 65. %M 04%) )5 L/l. @m/

THE GRAPHIC CO PHOTO-LTHJGL 4| PARK PLACE, N-Y.

3sheets- -sheet2. l. N. SNOWDUN. Barges for oal, 81c.

No.152,87 7. Patemdlul msn.

3 Sheets--Sheet 3.

Patented July 7,1874.

I z I J. N. SNGWDBN. Barges for Boai, c.

UNITED STATES PATENT O F-Ion.

JOHN N. sNoWnoN, or BROWNSVILLE, ASSIGNOB To THOMAS sNoWnoN, or PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN BARGES FO'R CQAL 84c.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 152,877, dated July 7, 1874'; application filed April 8, 1874.

' of a barge with my end-gate applied to it.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of a different style of barge with my end-gate applied to it. Fig. 3 is an end view of a portion of the barge shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sec tion, substantially similar to the one shown in Fig. 1, the gate being open. Fig. 5 is a top view of a portion of the barge shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a similar section to Fig. 4, the end-gate being closed. Fig. 7 is a top View of a barge, showing a modified style of end- Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section in line i gate. '00 of the barge and gate shown in Fig. 7.

V The object of my invention is to provide a means whereby two or more coal or other barges may be floated, transported, or towed,

one within another, and thus the amount of; space on the water, which a given number of barges occupies, reduced one-half'or more, accordingly as the barges may be packed one; within the other. The na'tureof my invention consists, first, in a coal or other barge constructed with one or both of its ends hinged, pivoted, or made removable, for the purpose of admitting a smaller barge within it afterl the larger barge is water-logged, and with its bulk-heads, beams, knight-heads, and other.

parts, which might interfere with the floating in and confining of one barge Within another, easily removable, so that too great a differ ence between the sizes of the inner and outer barges shall not be necessary.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

Inthe drawings I have shown some of the various, simple, and ordinary modes of constructing coal and other barges. Such barges are generally built with solid sides er *gunwales, and flanked athwartship, and longitudinal stringers or footlands,and occasional cross-floors, as shown. In form they'are made either with one end curved and the ether straight and inclined to the horizon, as in Fig. 1, or with both ends curved, similarly to the plan shown in Fig.2,or with both ends straight and slightly inclined to the horizon. U I

In practice I can apply my invention to barges or boats that are framed and .fplanked as an ordinary steamboat or other Hull. g

A represents the bottom planking of the barge; l3, stringers or futtocks; (J, Tcrosfs-eiid sill, and D knees for bracin g the sill and tocks E, water-step timber running athwartship, and terminating at the gunwales; F, water-stop footing on the bottom plank, and terminating on the top or the gun'wales. G G are the gunwales. H is the bottom sill of a gate, H, which is constructed upon one or both ends of the barge jnst described. I, "planking; J, vertical frames clamps; 'L, hinges, and M pin for the same. Ois a groove I or fluting, which is to be provided in the sill C and the sill H, and also around th'eedge of the gate, and in the water-stops EfF, into which a gasket or packing, N, is fitted, seas to make a perfectly water-tight joint when the end gate or gates are closed. Thisjo'int may be made in various ways, but "the plan I regard as best is to fold a strip of g'uim cloth or leather, and nail the overlapping edges to. gether upon the sill O and water-stop F, and stuff the tube thus formed with rope or rolls of curled hair, or any suitable elastic material. It is important to propertion thesiz'eof the gasket to the flitting, so that it may 'flatten and expand sufficiently to make a perfectly water-tight joint when the gate'i's closed. P P are hooks attached to the gunwales, and fastening in eyes I P on the end gate. Swivel-bolts, one part attached to the gun wales, and the other to the end-gate, with the nut between the two parts, may be substituted for the hooks and eyes. K K timbers, known as knight-heads, are secured to the gunwales by removable clamps a a, which are fastened by screw-bolts or pins and cotter. L L are the bulk-heads, fitted upon grooved cross-bottom'timbers, and between timbers on the inner side of the gunwales. R are the beams for bracing top of gunwales. These are fitted within metal boxes b b, which arg open at top and at front, with flange or lip at the bottom of socket to support the beam, and also to receive the heads or knees which foot on the cross-floors. (Not shown in drawings.) These boxes are formed with a dovetailed or L- shaped chamber between their jaws, so as to hold firmly upon the metallic straps, with lugs or dovetailsfastened to sides of beams at each end of same, so as to hold firmly upon the beams after they are inserted. The bulkheads are constructed to be driven snugly between the beams and the sides of the barge, and into the groove on the top of the watertight cross-floors, and the parts of the bulkhead are constructed to fit snugly against one another, so that when the bulk-head is driven down into the said groove on cross-floor, all will be water-tight. The other top crossbeams of the barge are fastened in boxes in the same manner. The braces or'knees heading under the metallic boxes are to be confined by fastenings which will permit of their ready removal.

It will be seen that the bulkheads at each end, and all the cross-top-bracing timbers can be readily removed when a smaller barge is to be floated into the larger barge, it only being necessary to pull or lift the beams out of their metal boxes and lift the bulk-heads out of position, and if the knees and knight-heads are required to be removed, this is done by unscrewing the former and the irons which confine the latter.

To get one barge into another, the gate is lowered and the barge allowed to become wator-logged; the smaller barge is now floated into the water-logged barge and the gate closed securely. The water is then pumped out by steam-pumps and siphons, such as are used on tow-boats the operation requiring from thirty to forty-five minutes.

The -modification shown in Fig. 2 consists only in constructing the end-gate H with a curve corresponding to the curve of the bow of the'barge. In all other respects the barge and gate will be similar to the plan shown in Fig; l.

The modification shown by Figs. 4, 5, and 6, consists simply in the construction of the parts, and in addition of a knight-head timber. I The modification shown in- Figs. 7 and 8 consists simply in parting the gate vertically at the center of the barge, and hinging each half thereof on vertical pins. In some cases the end-gate might be hinged on one side and clamped on the other.

The utility of this invention will be apparent from the following: In the first place, three-fourths of the coal that goes to the western and southern markets goes out of our (the Monongahela) river, and I presume it is well known that this river is made navigable at all seasons of the year by means of locks and dams, and consequently the coal and other business has increased to such an extent that great delay is occasioned in passing the loaded and empty barges through the locks. One of the advantages of my invention would be that the barges being so constructed, three or four would be taken through in the same time as is now required to pass one or two, thereby saving considerable expense and time, which latter is a great item, particularly when the river is falling fast. But the greatest advantage of my improvement will be in towing back the empty barges from New Orleans, Vicksburg, Natchez, Memphis, Cairo, Louisville and Cincinnati. It is very rarely that one boat is able to bring back as many empty barges as she towed down loaded, more particularly from the ports on the Mississippi, in consequence of the strong current, and also from the fact that, when retnrnin g with a tow of empty barges, the rivers, as a general thing, are not so high as'when going down with a tow of loaded barges, for the reason that it is often necessary to await freshets to go down on, and, in consequence of there being less water to return on, the tow-boats are compelled to run the channel and island chutes, and sometimes the tow is so great as to preclude the passing through the narrow chutes with a full tow. The wind, also, has a great effect in retarding a large tow. The towboats will be enabled to tow double the number they do now, and at very little additional expense, if my plan is adopted.

I do not claim an open-ended dock 5 but What I do claim is Open-ended boats or barges, in combination with the interior fittings and appurtenances mentioned, made removable for the purpose-of admitting or nesting two, three, or more boats or barges within each other, for the purpose above described.

JOHN NELSON SNOWDON. Witnesses: JOHN S. WILGUS, E. ORUMRINE. 

